Bursting Bubbles by Dyan Sheldon Read Free Book Online Page B

funeral.
    Marigold pretends to look almost puzzled by his sympathy. “It really doesn’t bother me, Ash.” By now, she’s almost managed to convince herself that this is true. “Actually, I’m kind of looking forward to it.” Instead of sinking into a Slough of Despond because Dr Kilpatiky is as immune to reason as a charging rhino, Marigold is trying to think of the tutoring as a new and exciting learning experience for her as well as her student. “It’s not my first choice. We all know that. I’d much rather hang out with books than challenged children. But what can you do? It’s what I got. I figure I have to make the best of it or I’ll just make it worse.” She doesn’t see the look Claudelia gives Asher, or the look that Will gives Georgiana. “And, you know, it could be super interesting.” She beams over her sandwich like the sun over a hill. “It’s important to step outside your comfort zone now and then. I think it’ll help me grow as a person.”
    If anyone else talked like a self-help book, the girls would roll their eyes and the boys would groan or pretend to throw up. But they don’t; they all look at their lunches and nod. Except for Georgiana (who also didn’t see the look Will gave her).
    “Yeah, but I don’t want to make the best of it,” says Georgiana. “I want it to be good to begin with.”
    Marigold smiles. Sadly but wisely. “Only life isn’t like that, George. You have to think of everything as an opportunity. You can’t always get what you want.”
    “I don’t see why not,” says Georgiana.
    “Me neither,” says Asher.
    Patience shuffles beside sadness and wisdom in Marigold’s smile. “I think because sometimes what you want isn’t really what you should have. Things always work out for the best.”
    “No, they don’t,” says Georgiana.
    “Maybe they do if you have a good lawyer,” says Asher.
    Byron gives Marigold a ride to Half Hollow.
    “Shoot, man,” laughs Byron. “The only time I’ve been out this way was when I was going somewhere else and I got lost.”
    Marigold has never gone anywhere that would take her out this way, no matter how lost she was. “It’s kind of like a treasure hunt, isn’t it?” she says gamely. “We don’t really know what we’ll find when we get there. It’ll be a surprise.”
    This is only true up to a point. The closer they get to the town the more what they can expect to find when they get there becomes fairly obvious. With every yard they travel, the smaller and older and more run-down the houses are; the more rusting cars and busted appliances decorate the porches and lawns; the more people stare at the late-model, candy-red sports car as if it’s an alien spaceship. Until, eventually, the lush lawns and sprawling homes of Shell Harbour are so far away they really might be on a different planet. And not necessarily a friendly one.
    “Better lock your door,” advises Byron.
    By the time they reach Half Hollow, even Marigold is feeling about as upbeat as one of those Irish ballads where the hero accidentally murders the only woman he will ever love and then throws himself in the river. Nor does their first glimpse of the town itself make either of them feel any better. When the nation was growing and industry was booming, Half Hollow was a thriving mill town where people came for jobs and a decent life. But now that the country’s streets are paved not with gold but potholes and burger boxes, the mill is derelict and half the stores on Main Street are empty. Now it’s a town that people leave. If they can.
    The elementary school is at the top of a steep hill behind Main Street. It was built at the turn of the twentieth century, and the years have been no kinder to it than they’ve been to the rest of Half Hollow. In most towns, it would have been torn down decades ago and replaced with something modern, or turned into the local historical museum. But not in Half Hollow. Half Hollow has no money for new